


Mane Attraction

by BladeoftheNebula



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Activist Steve Rogers, Animal Transformation, Avengers Tower, Humor, M/M, Magic-Users, Minor Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson, Missing Persons, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24429184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BladeoftheNebula/pseuds/BladeoftheNebula
Summary: Tony and Steve have been dancing around each other for months, and Tony's so sure they're finally getting somewhere.But when Steve suddenly goes missing, Tony has to search in the most unlikely places to find him, while wondering if he's lost his chance forever.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 45
Kudos: 224
Collections: Captain America/Iron Man Reverse Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fluffypanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Lionhearted [ART]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24419581) by [Fluffypanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/pseuds/Fluffypanda). 



> This is my entry for the 2020 Cap-IM Reverse Bang! This was the first collab event I've ever done and I'm so glad I did. I was paired with the lovely FluffyPanda who made some absolutely amazing art for the event, so please give her some love.
> 
> Panda was great to work with and helped me make this fic the best it could be - thanks hon 😘
> 
> Thanks so much to LovelyIKnow for the beta ❤️ and to AvengersNewB for cheer-reading :)

“You sure you don’t want to come?”

Tony gave Steve a disbelieving look. “Do I want to come running with you? You? Steve ‘if it isn’t 30 miles it's a jog’ Rogers? No, I can safely say I don’t want to go running.”

“I’m not that bad, I can slow down for you.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh. Like you do for Sam?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “That’s just because it’s funny. I could slow down for you.”

“No need, mon Capitan. Go for your run, we’ll hang out after, ok?” 

“If you’re sure. Might do you some good to get some fresh air.”

It was tempting. Not the running obviously, but the seeing Steve run. Those strong legs pumping hard as his feet hit the pavement, and knowing they weren’t even close to hitting their limit. Tony had gained a great appreciation for those legs since the team had come together. And other parts too, of course. 

But there was no way he could keep up. And the last thing he needed was some pap snapping a picture of him dying while Steve jogged effortlessly alongside. No thank you. 

But he couldn’t help a swirl of guilt in his stomach. He hated turning Steve down for this when he’d had to turn him down so many times this month. Steve’s newest hobby was social justice, and while Tony backed him one-hundred percent, Steve didn’t seem to understand he’d be more of a hindrance than a help.

So, yes. Saying no to Steve made him feel bad, but not as bad as trying to keep up with epitome of male perfection.

“I’m sure. You have fun, burn off some energy, and then when you get back we can watch the next episode of the _Mandalorian._ ”

“I’ll do you one better. How about I meet you after my run? We can grab a hotdog or something.”

“Sure, Cap. I’ll meet you downstairs when you’re done.”

Steve grinned. “It’s a date.” He grabbed his headphones and plugged them in with a smile before heading to the stairs. “I’ll let Jarvis know when I’m on my way back.”

“You got it.” Tony stared after him feeling a flutter in his stomach.

_Date? If only._

* * *

Tony frowned as he looked at the time on the display.

“Jarvis? You heard from Steve?”

“No sir,” and the AI sounded unsure. “The Captain should have finished his daily exercise approximately thirty minutes ago, based on the average running times for his usual route.”

“Call him. Maybe he got caught up rescuing a cat from a tree or something.”

He waited for Jarvis to connect him. And waited. “What’s the delay?”

“I’m afraid the phone is ringing through to voicemail. No response.”

“Try again Jarvis.” He felt a spike of anxiety well up in his stomach. 

That was strange. Steve always answered the phone. As an Avenger, being in contact was a must. And while some of them (alright him, but also Clint!) sometimes flaunted that a bit, Steve _never_ did. Not unless he’d made it clear ahead of time. Besides, they had plans to meet, no way would Steve just bail.

“Still nothing, sir. I also took the liberty of trying his communicator, but no response.”

Tony bit his lip. He was pretty sure this was a major invasion of privacy, but he did have good reason to be concerned… “Pull up his tracking data.”

The display in front of him lit up with a map. His eyes scanned for the locator dot. “Where is he?”

“I’m afraid we cannot access the Captain’s coordinates at this time.”

Tony suddenly felt sick. He’d built that tracker. There was no reason for it to stop working without some kind of outside interference. “Call everyone. Steve’s in trouble.”

* * *

As it always did when he was stressed, his mind pinwheeled off on different tracks, pulling scenarios and ideas together trying to find a solution. 

Not knowing was...awful. He couldn’t help but think of Steve, alone and afraid somewhere, waiting for Tony to fix the problem, but he couldn’t because he didn’t know where he was!

He slammed a fist down on the workbench, relishing the pain that shot up his wrist. Had Hydra come for the serum again? Was Steve strapped to a metal table in some poor excuse for a laboratory having his blood taken pint by pint?

Or maybe AIM? Steve had given them a damn good kicking the last time they’d gone toe-to-toe, it wouldn’t be out of character for them to come after him. He added AIM activity to the list of search priorities.

As he flashed through theories, the trail of a memory tugged at him for attention, pulling his thoughts towards the conversation he’d had with Steve a few days ago. 

It was Steve’s latest attempt at trying to get him to join his do-gooder campaign, helping the little guy. He’d joined up with campaigners pushing to pass a new bill for New York state to ensure a living wage for all workers, with a special emphasis on the scummy 1% making their fortunes off the backs of people who had to decide between food and rent. The fact that he was looking to increase it to at least $20 an hour hadn’t hurt either. To say it had caused some pushback was an understatement, with many CEOs of said scummy 1% calling Steve a socialist enemy of America, and condemning his use of his platform for social movements. Which Steve did not care about, at all. 

Tony wanted to help, he really did. But for some reason, no matter how he explained, it was like Steve was blind to the optics, so insistent Tony could be a benefit to it. It was exhausting. It’s not like Steve was stupid either, so Tony was pretty sure he was running on self-righteousness and passion alone. 

“Will you come with me?”

Tony winced. That tone was a killer. “I would. You know I would. But, you have to see how it might hurt your cause right? Me, household name born with a silver spoon in his mouth? I just think it’s better if I stay away.”

He’d seen the rumblings online. Well, Jarvis had. It was definitely better that he stay away.

“But you could really make a difference,” Steve told him stubbornly. 

“It’ll look like I’m a huge hypocrite and take all the attention away from the protest. It makes more sense for you to go. Maybe take Clint - he grew up without a lot, and in foster care. He’s more relatable to the group you’re trying to help.”

Steve’s shoulders slumped. “I guess. I just-” He looked up, eyes half-hidden by the flop of hair he had let grow too long. “It doesn't feel right, fighting the good fight without you.”

And that was a stellar move. A real punch to the stomach. In a nice way. Because he wanted to be that for Steve. His back up, and his friend. 

More than, really.

But he could settle for the former. He just couldn’t do that here. He was being practical. It was important to send out the right image and to do that, he had to stay away.

“I’ll help however I can.”

“I know.” Steve got up off the stool, rolling his shoulders. He grabbed his sketchbook and picked up his pencil, tucking it behind his ear and looking ridiculously charming doing it. “Time to hit the streets I guess.”

“Don’t forget to give a big speech, Cap,” Tony teased. “You know they love it.”

Steve laughed. “I’ll try. Just for you, Ironman.” He gave Tony a smile and then he was out the door. 

And now he was missing. Tony couldn’t help but feel guilty for turning him down so much lately. Hell, if he’d gone on this run, if he’d been there, he could’ve helped. He could've stopped whatever thing thought it could waltz in here and just take Steve seemingly without a trace. 

Tony took a deep breath. No.

It wasn’t going to be like that. He was going to find Steve and everything would be fine. 

It had to be.

* * *

“How could he be gone?!”

Tony winced at the volume of Bucky’s voice. “If I knew that we wouldn’t be having this disc-”

“In broad daylight? Who the fuck would dare?”

“Jarvis is already looking into it, as soon as we-”

Bucky paced angrily. “Honestly when I get my hands on them I’ll rip them apart.”

“Bucky!” Sam interjected, sounding exasperated. 

“What?”’

“Let the man speak.”

Bucky huffed but took a seat on the couch. He gestured for Tony to continue. 

Tony cleared his throat. “Thank you. As I was saying we’re pulling footage, tracking data, whatever we’ve got. We’ll find him.”

Natasha stood stony-faced in the corner. “Could it be Hydra? I heard some rumblings they were recruiting. Maybe this was part of their plan.”

Tony shrugged. “Could be. Honestly, I’m not ruling anything out.”

“The fact that no one saw him be taken,” Natasha said, a thread of worry leaking its way into her tone. “He wouldn’t go quietly.”

Tony swallowed and nodded. “I know. It’s - It’s fine. Steve’s fine. We’ll find him.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Thor giving him a reassuring squeeze. “We will,” he rumbled. “The captain will expect us to come to his aid, and so we shall.”

“Yeah,” Tony nodded, feeling the tight feeling in his chest unwind a little. “Yeah, we will.”

* * *

Tony shot awake at the sound of the tracker proximity alarm going off.

“What-where-”

“It’s Captain Rogers, sir. I’m receiving approximate coordinates for his location.”

Tony pushed himself up, hastily pulling on a shirt and jeans. “Why can't we get an exact lock?” He grabbed his suit cuffs and clicked them into place. 

“There’s some sort of interference. I can’t get through it. I’m sorry.”

Tony pressed his palms into his eyes, rubbing in frustration. “Not your fault, J. We’ll work it out.”

He jogged out to the landing platform and activated the suit. The familiar red and gold spread over his body and he felt the tight knot in his stomach relax a little. He was Ironman. He was going to find Steve and everything was going to be fine.

As he launched into the air, he sent an alert to the others. It was faster if he went on ahead, and he didn't want to risk not getting to Steve in time. Sam sent back confirmation, and he focused on navigating.

He flew over the buildings, the lights twinkling below. The city that never sleeps.

He smiled, the view reminding him of the first time he and Steve had flown in the suit for pleasure instead of business. Steve had been honestly awestruck —- turns out you couldn’t see a hell of a lot of the best city views when you were a poor Irish kid in 19-whatever Brooklyn. 

He followed the trace, flying over buildings and streets, until they gave way to greenspace, getting closer and closer until-

“The Bronx Zoo?”

“This seems to be where the signal is coming from.”

“Can we at least get it down to a smaller area?”

“I’m sorry sir,” Jarvis offered, sounding apologetic. “We’re only getting intermittent pulses, and I can only trace it here.”

Tony swore. Well, alright, guess he’d have to just search the old-fashioned way.

He flew over the zoo, looking desperately for any sign, but even scanning for human biometrics came up empty. Did they have an underground base or something? Maybe something shielded? He changed the settings on the scanners, looking for lack of soil or something similar that might indicate the presence of a bunker but there was nothing amiss. No secret spaces or anything out of place. 

Well, there was a little bit of underground activity, but he highly doubted a villain could hide Steve in the meerkat tunnels. 

He dropped down onto one of the walkways, needing a moment to push back the disappointment sitting heavy in his chest. He stood there for a long time, not having the energy to return to the tower. It was hard telling them he was failing when they were all worried about Steve and still had no word.

He saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and for a second his mind filled in the blank, as he turned, hopeful, to see —-

A lion.

Of course. Of-fucking-course. Because he was standing in a goddamn zoo. 

His heart dropped. Fuck, he’d been all over this place and no sign of Steve anywhere. “Jarvis, anything?”

“I’m sorry Sir. The tracker seems to dip in and out of reception. I keep trying to lock down coordinates, but this is the best I can do.”

Tony sighed and looked around. Thank god the zoo was closed. No one needed to see Ironman moping about the place. He was about to take off when there was a loud exhale behind him. 

He turned, expecting to see an annoyed zookeeper or something, but there was no one there. 

He frowned. Who—-

There was a loud rumble, like an engine and Tony looked over to see the lion standing watching him from the enclosure. 

“Oh! Hey there. Sorry if I freaked you out or whatever.”

The lion made a huffing noise, like he understood and Tony chuckled. “Oh yeah sure, you got it.”

The lion paced, squeaking and Tony laughed. “You’re a chatty guy huh? Am I special, or do you talk to all the zoo guests that way, you old flirt?”

The lion stared at him and growled. 

“Alright grumpy, no need to be like that.” There was the chirp of an incoming communication and Tony answered. Maybe they’d found him.

“Tony? We’re not far out, any luck?”

Damn. “No, nothing. The tracker brought me to the Bronx Zoo, but there’s nothing here.”

There was silence as Nat processed it. “Alright. We’ll turn back. Come back to the tower, we'll debrief there.”

“You got it.”

He shut off the connection, taking one final look around and let his eyes fall closed for just a second. Ok, back to it.

“Bye Aslan, hope they get you the really good gazelle for the morning.” The lion growled loudly, pawing at the ground and grunting at him. 

Pretty odd reaction for a lion, now that he thought about it but- 

The thought trailed off until he could barely remember what he was thinking. It was kind of weird, but the poor guy was probably just freaked out by the robot that had flown into its home.

He gave the big cat a friendly wave, then fired up the repulsors and shot into the sky.

* * *

Nat was there to greet him when he set down on the landing pad. She was still dressed in her suit and her hair was still tied back in her usual mission braid.

“Anything?”

She shook her head. “Not since you last checked in. We’ve put in some calls, and the NYPD is keeping an eye out for any sign of him. Jarvis had scanned the CCTV feeds but nothing so far. It’s like he just...vanished into thin air.”

“The man is a big, blonde two hundred and forty-pound beefcake! A man that size can’t just disappear without anyone noticing!”

“We’ll find him, Tony,” she said, resting a hand on his arm. He looked at her, seeing the same worry reflecting in her eyes, even as her face tried to give nothing away. 

“I know. I know.” He retracted the armour, feeling the cool air flow over his undersuit and shivered. 

“Come on.” She tipped her head towards the door. “Everyone’s waiting.”

He sighed, but nodded, following her into the tower. 

* * *

A few hours later they had to pause the search, a call out for a superpowered robbery downtown that demanded their presence. 

It was fairly easy to dispatch, the Wrecking Crew, as it turned out, were off their game. But more importantly, their presence had led to questions, specifically questions about Cap, and apparently some news outlet had found a leak in the NYPD. 

Soon # _WheresCap_ was trending, and Jarvis was being inundated with false leads. 

“Why can't people get their facts straight before they go online and mouth off?” Bucky growled as they sat around the kitchen island after the fight. “Look, this one even included ‘photographic evidence’ and that guy looks nothing like Steve, is she crazy?”

“People are either after a few minutes of fame or misguidedly trying to help,” Clint offered from where he was holding a bag of peas over a nasty black eye from the fight. “Not much you can do.”

Tony was only half listening as he skimmed over some of the more convincing information Jarvis had put together. There was one woman here who had said she’d seen Steve out on his run, and that he’d entered Central Park near Grand Army Plaza, Steve’s usual route.

It was promising. Very promising.

He pinged the tweet for Jarvis to follow up, and then his tablet was tugged from his grip and a sandwich placed in front of him. It was such a familiar occurrence that, and for a moment, Tony expected to turn and see Steve’s usual disapproving look. Then his heart sank as his brain caught up and all he saw was Sam, looking concerned. 

“Taking care of yourself doesn’t stop just because Steve is MIA, you hear me?”

Tony scowled, but nodded, biting into it and chewing pointedly. Sam hummed in approval, and took his own seat next to Bucky, bumping his shoulder gently. He looked pointedly at Bucky’s sandwich and raised an eyebrow. 

Bucky picked it up without hesitation, and started making his way through it. Impressive, Bucky didn’t even listen to Steve that much. 

“I’m sure Steve will be fine. He’s smart, resourceful and stubborn as fuck. Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s raising hell,” Sam said, looking at them both with a reassuring smile.

That dragged a chuckle out of Barnes, but Tony found it didn’t do much to raise his spirits.

Because Steve was out there, relying on Tony to find him, and Tony was _failing_. 

The sandwich turned to ash in his mouth, but he forced himself to finish to reassure Sam. He checked a few emails from Pepper, made sure to follow up with R&D, and signed off on a few things the lawyers had sent through for one of their new products. 

Sam was right, at least. Life didn’t stop just because Steve wasn’t around.

Sure made it a lot less bright though.

* * *

Tony was in his workshop, distracting himself with suit upgrades while Jarvis sorted through the latest results of the tip line. 

It was early, very early. He’d usually have been to bed at this point - turned out being part of a team came with people who liked to make sure everyone got their eight hours, but with Steve gone it’d been hard to turn his brain off. 

It was becoming apparent just how much time he spent with Steve, now that he had left a Captain America shaped hole in Tony’s life.

Bucky was going nuts, for all he tried to hide it, and Nat wasn’t much better. 

Sam seemed to be trying to step up and keep up morale, but he was starting to look strained around the eyes which Tony hated to see. 

An alarm went off and Tony’s head shot up. “Jarvis?”

“The Captain’s tracker has gone live. Coordinates incoming.”

Tony grabbed his cuffs, the suit spreading over him as he hit the switch to open the exit. He powered up, and flew out, banking left as the tracking dot came up on his screen. 

This time. Please be right this time.

The sun was just rising on the horizon, streaming pink and orange across the sky. He flew on, heading towards the Bronx. As he neared the coordinates, he looked down and groaned.

“Why does this thing keep pinging here?” Tony growled.

“I’m afraid where the transmitter is coming from isn’t up to me. I’m just the messenger.”

Tony rolled his eyes. Smartass. 

“Alright, let’s take a look.”

He flew over the zoo, trying to keep a low profile, but definitely freaking out a few bison when he came down a little too low. He was glad the early hour meant there were no keepers or guests around to see him.

Eventually he finished scanning and dropped down onto one of the walkways in frustration. Nothing. Damnit. 

There was an inquisitive chirp, and Tony looked over to see the lion from the day before, perched on one of the grassy mounds and looking right at him. “Oh hey.”

“Meowr!” The lion said, lifting a paw at him.

Tony raised a brow. He was pretty sure he’d never had animals take much notice of him at zoos before. But then, he wasn't usually wearing the suit he supposed. 

He flipped the faceplate up. “Sorry to visit so early. I don’t suppose you’ve seen a guy around here at all? Tall, blond, could lift a motorbike with three showgirls on it without breaking a sweat?” Steve always blushed when he brought that up, Tony loved it. 

The lion’s eyes widened and he seemed...kind of amped? He reared up on his back legs, patting the air with his huge paws. “Wow ok, calm down. I’ll take that as a no. I don’t need some zookeeper coming at me for scaring the wildlife.”

The lion stared at him, and Tony was anthropomorphising, because he looked kind of disbelieving? “What’s the matter fuzzball? Not getting enough attention here? Too used to being King of the jungle, huh? Or not really, because you guys live on the plains, but whatever, point still stands.”

The lion seemed to huff, and then flopped over, the momentum sending him down the grassy hill in the slowest, most put upon slide Tony had ever seen. “Wow. I had no idea lions could be drama queens. You’ve really taught me something today.”

His helmet squawked and Tony frowned. “What’s going on?”

“You’ve had a response from one of the leads, sir. Ms Zielinski, the woman who saw the Captain entering the park.”

Oh right. “Great, what does she say?” 

“She is happy to meet with the avengers and discuss.”

“Set it up.” He looked back at the lion still lying on the grass. “Got to go. Try to wow the crowds and hey, if you see a wayward superhero, send him my way, alright?”

As he took off the lion roared. The sound vibrated through him like a shockwave. 

It was incredible. 

* * *

Ms Zielinski turned out to be pretty helpful.

She gave a lot of detail - she was definitely a Cap fan - and even had a couple of short vids she’d snapchatted to her friends. 

Tony had uploaded them to Jarvis for analysis, before thanking her and promising her signed Captain America merch when they found him. 

He just hoped he could keep his promise. 

Having someone missing was...hard. He felt a lot worse about what he’d put Pepper and Rhodey through when he’d been taken in Afghanistan. It was a weird balance of working all hours to find him, but realising they still had responsibilities to upkeep.

Well, more accurately, Steve had responsibilities to upkeep, Tony didn’t give a fuck if he missed a board meeting or two. 

“Alright, I have Steve’s schedule for the next two weeks,” Pepper told them as they sat around the table. She pulled up a display showing a calendar with various appointments dotted throughout. 

“Now, a few have gotten in touch with us to tell us they understand Cap can’t attend - mostly his regular places, like the soup kitchen and the Animal Shelter he was due to do the adoption day with, but a couple of others were really relying on him, so I offered up other Avengers to help them out.” She stared them all down. “I hope I can count on all of you to step up?”

“I mean, yes, sure, happy to,” Clint said, as he poured milk over his cereal. “But also why are you doing this? Aren’t you meant to be CEO-ing?”

“Well, first, not a verb,” Pepper told him, her mouth curled up in a smile. “But also I can’t get anyone sane to deal with you lot. Don’t worry,” she winked, and it was terrifying. “I’ll have you make it up to me later.”

Tony had the horrible feeling there was going to be a lot of Avenger-based PR for SI in their future. 

“Anyway,” Pepper continued, pulling up a list of appointments. “I need someone to attend these two veteran fundraisers, Sam, I figured you could take those if that’s alright? Great. And Clint, could you do the adoption drive? They were really good about it, but I know they were relying on the publicity to clear out some space so they can take in new cases, so if we can help I’d rather not leave them in the lurch.”

Clint nodded. “Sure, I can pet some kittens, kiss puppies. Easy.”

“Perfect.” She ticked a few boxes off. “Ok and everything else can probably be pushed back, the only thing that can’t is the Living Wage Bill. The vote is in a few weeks, and this is when they need to go hardest. We all know Steve would hate to let the campaign down now.”

Tony grit his teeth. His involvement probably wouldn’t help, but it was important to Steve. And he couldn’t let it slip, not now. “I guess I could-”

Pepper shook her head. “No, all your reasons for not getting involved are still valid. I was actually thinking James?” She looked at Bucky, who suddenly looked like a deer in the headlights. 

“Me?”

Pepper nodded kindly. “You.”

“Ummm, but,” He sat back looking a little trapped. “I don't usually do...public things.”

“I know, and normally I wouldn’t ask. But you make the most sense. You’re a veteran, who sacrificed a lot, and you grew up during the great depression, just like Steve. You understand the issue, you’ve lived it. You make the perfect stand-in.”

“But I was also an assassin working for Hydra.”

“Who has been exonerated of all crimes in a public inquiry, and is on the Avengers team roster. You have a lot of support, especially from groups who deal with mental health and traumatic recovery. Trust me, you’re perfect for the job.”

Bucky looked surprised and unsure, but Sam gave him a nudge with an elbow and gave him a look.

“Hey. You can do this. You’ve come so far and made so much progress. It’s time for you to get back out in the world, show them what Bucky Barnes can do.”

“I just don’t know if I can do it. I don’t exactly have the gift of the inspirational gab like Steve does.”

“You can. I know you can.” Sam’s hand landed on Bucky’s shoulder giving it a squeeze, and giving Bucky a significant look. 

Whatever he was trying to convey it must’ve made sense to Bucky because he nodded. And really, Tony knew they spent a lot of time together, but he hadn’t realised how much Barnes was coming to rely on Sam so much.

Bucky exhaled, his face determined. “Ok. I don’t want Steve to lose out on this, and there are a lot of families who could benefit. You got it.”

“Perfect, because you have to speak at an event in an hour, and we need to get you ready.”

“AN HOUR?! Wait-” Before he could say anything else, Pepper was already walking out the door. 

He looked at the others for help, but they all avoided eye contact. No one was game enough to cross Pepper. Bucky glared. “Really? No one is going to—-”

“Come on Sergeant.”

He sighed. “Yes ma’am.” And he grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and followed her out.

Tony slumped. Having to fill in for Steve made this whole thing feel...way more real. 

It’s not like the Avengers didn’t have close calls, or go dark on a mission when something went wrong. But this? This was just Steve, out for a run, and now he was just gone. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Bruce looking at him worriedly. “Do you want to sort through the leads again?”

He nodded. “Yeah let’s get started.”

* * *

The lion was there again the next time he got a call out, knowing already where it was likely to lead him.

“Alright champ? How are we doing today?”

The lion rumbled. 

“That good huh?”

He leaned against the fencing with a smile. “Well, at least you make it worth coming out even if I end up leaving empty-handed.”

The lion made an interrogative growl. It sort of sounded like a question. “It’s just you’re not the big, blond and beautiful I’m looking for, but that’s not your fault.”

The lion quirked its head to the side. Tony laughed. 

“Yeah, you wouldn’t know. He’s not exactly from your neck of the woods. Sweet guy, caring, overly polite but secretly a dick sometimes, which you know, is my favourite. I love it when he breaks and does something super petty. Especially when it’s at some jackass who needs taking down a peg. It’s so good.” He huffed. “And I like it when he comes down to get me to fix something I know he knows how to handle. I’m pretty sure he does it just to get me out of my head but I haven’t told him I’m onto him yet.”

The lion huffed. 

“Yeah, he thinks he’s sneaky. But I don’t know, I like it. I like it when he comes and hangs out. You know, and I guess...I guess we were sort of moving toward something? I don’t know.”

The lion put both front paws on the ground and shimmied, its butt wiggling. He seemed pretty excited, but it was hard to know with lions. Then his tail flicked out, and his eyes dilated and he pounced on it, getting distracted as he tried to bite it. 

Tony snorted. “Oh sure, I pour my heart out and you can’t even be bothered to listen. Can’t blame you I guess. It’s pretty tragic.”

The lion continued to play with its tail. “Alright, that’s probably enough self-pity for now. See you later _Panthera Leo_.” He gave the lion a little wave and then started the repulsors. 

The repulsors still seemed to freak the big cat out, since as soon as he started to lift off, it dropped its tail and jumped up with a roar.

Tony gave it a wave and shot off back towards the tower.

* * *

“So, how’s dancing monkey duty?” Tony asked, flopping down on the couch next to Bucky. He had a pile of documents he was going through that looked Very Important and also Very Dull.

“Ha-ha,” Bucky snarked, highlighting a section. “It’s alright. They were a bit wary at first, but they seem to have warmed up to me.” His tongue poked out as he made a note. “They gave me homework.”

Tony snorted. “They probably just assumed you’d be as gung-ho as Steve.”

“Probably. Any new leads?”

“No, not really. Jarvis is staying on top of it, so we’ll know as soon as he does.”

Bucky sighed. “Yeah, ok.” He flipped the page over. “Also I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh?”

“Is there anything you can do about the paid protestors who are turning up to go against the campaign?”

Tony’s eyebrows went up. “The what now?”

“Paid protestors. At first I thought it was genuine, but then I noticed a few of them had the same flyer with them and when I found a copy dropped on the ground, it was basically an outline for the protest. And also, when I talked to a few they all gave the exact same practised response. So I had Jarvis look into it. Lots of them attend various protests and get paid to pretend they’re employees of different companies.”

He pulled up a photo on his phone showing a group of people chanting, many holding signs with standard protest slogans against the bill, but many with ‘Captain’s Law is an attack on freedom’, and even a large one with a picture of Steve’s Shield slicing through the words ‘American Dream’. 

“Well, I’ll be damned. Who are they pretending to work for?”

“Roxxon.”

Tony rubbed a hand over his mouth in amusement. “How the mighty have fallen. I would’ve thought Hugh Jones had too much pull in the house for that. Steve must have them rattled.”

“That’s our Stevie.” Bucky hummed. “So anything you can do?”

“Not really. Paid or not, they have the right to be there. I’d suggest outing them on social media. That sort of thing gets a lot of traction.”

“Can Stark PR help with that?””

Tony nodded. “Sure can. I’ll shoot them an email, give them a head ups and they’ll let you know what they can do.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, can’t let those assholes ruin Steve’s good work can I?”

Bucky shook his head. “No, can't do that. Besides, some of the stories people have told me...can’t let them down. It’s not much better for a lot of them than it was when we were kids.”

“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “Some lessons we just never seem to learn.”

They fell silent after that, Bucky studying and Tony tapping out a message to Lucy in PR explaining the situation. 

He was proud of Bucky, for stepping out of his comfort zone and into the spotlight to help people. 

He just wished Steve were here to see it.

* * *

He got called out by the transmitter a few times over the following week. Each time he came back empty-handed and heavy-hearted, feeling the hope drain a little more each time.

Every time though, he would wander past the enclosure with the lion, who always seemed pleased to see him. Or as pleased to see a random zoo visitor as a lion could be, he supposed. Maybe it was just that he didn’t seem to get on with the other lions. There was a whole pride in the enclosure, including, if Tony did say so himself, some pretty nice lady lions, and yet the big lion seemed to keep his distance, only interacting if needed. 

Maybe the poor guy was just lonely, and Tony showing up was some novel fun thing for a bored cat in the middle of the city. 

Tony would arrive, and the lion would do some fun lion things, hopping about, roaring and being generally pretty cute, and Tony would chat to him for a bit before heading back to base. It was a little weird that the lion paid so much attention to him, but every time he tried to analyse it, the lion would do something else and he’d forget what he was thinking about to coo at it instead.

It was kind of nice. He’d never had a pet growing up but now he wondered if maybe he should get a cat for the tower or something once everything was back to normal. Steve would love it. 

Finally, he had to accept the transmitter was malfunctioning, and that coming back again and again wasn’t helping. When he got another ping at the end of the week, he decided to make one more visit.

It was daytime this time, so he parked the suit outside, pulling on a ball cap and paying for a ticket so he could search without drawing too much attention. 

He made a couple of loops just so he could tell himself he’d checked and eventually came around to a familiar enclosure. Tony leaned against the railing, feeling a little lost. Steve wasn’t here, he was likely never here. This would be his last visit.

There was a low interrogative growl and Tony looked up, a smile spreading across his face when he saw what it was. “Hey Big Guy, back again?”

The lion stared out at him, moving his head, and it was almost as if he was nodding. Tony snorted. 

“Yeah I get it, I’m the one always coming to your place so where do I get off asking what you’re up to, huh?”

“Honestly I hadn’t been here before...well, before. Never knew how nice it could be just here chatting to the animals. It must be kind of weird for you being here instead of the savannah or whatever. I made a donation, by the way, big one, on the condition they send you to a conservation reserve in South Africa, so you know, yay!”

The lion looked shocked, which was dumb, since it was a lion and clearly didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about, but he felt oddly compelled to explain. “Don’t give me that look! It’ll be fine. You won’t be just dumped there, they take care of you, feed you, take you out for walks. It’ll be nice.”

The lion flopped on the ground, covering its face with a paw. 

Tony snorted. “Oh come on, don’t be like that. You’ll love it. It’s just a thanks, for you know, listening to me while I wandered around this place trying to find my friend and achieving fuck all.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m not giving up. But I have to accept that I haven’t got any leads and I need to stop coming back here expecting a different outcome.”

He pushed back from the railing. “So thanks Simba, I appreciate it and I hope you like Africa.” He started to walk away, but was stopped by a loud angry sound. 

He turned back and the Lion was on his feet, jumping around and grunting. “Uuuuhhhh, you ok there champ?”

The lion sprinted off, digging about in the brush until he backed back out holding something in his mouth. He held a large thick rubber ring aloft and trotted back to the rock to look at Tony. 

“Oh you have a new toy, that’s cute, that’s-”

The lion braced himself, lowering his body to the ground and tipping his head back, and then he snapped around, sending the rubber ring sailing in a perfect arc to bounce off the ‘Do not feed the Lions’ sign. 

Tony’s jaw dropped. “Did you just..?”

The lion ran back to pick up the ring again, this time tossing it so it bounced off a rock, the sign, and flew towards Tony coming over the railing and skidding across the walkway. 

“Oh my god!” Because only one guy he knew could throw like that. Tony pointed in shock. “Cap??”

The lion yipped, hopping around and looking excited.

“Ok, I feel like I need a way to prove this instead of just assuming that a bored lion is a national icon.” He hummed. “Ok, raise a paw if you think the dodgers should’ve moved to LA?”

The lion did nothing. “OK well, that’s on-brand but also does not help, I should’ve asked more of a ‘yes’ question. Uhhhh ok, raise your paw if you know all the words to ‘Star-Spangled Man with a Plan’?”

The lion seemed to actually roll its eyes before it lifted a huge paw, giving it a little wiggle. 

“Alright this has been fun but I also now realise I should’ve just asked the important question. Raise your other paw if you’re Steve Rogers?”

The lion put its paw down, switching it’s weight so it could raise the other one.

“Holy shit! It’s you!”

The lion meowed, nodding his head. “The tracker wasn’t broken, you’ve been here the whole time! Oh my god!” 

Tony ran his hands through his hair. “How the fuck did you end up in here?” 

Steve looked at him blankly. “Oh right, you can’t talk right now so there’s no point in asking, got you. Ok, ok. So. You’re a lion. And we need to get you out of here, those are the two main things to focus on.”

He tapped his chin in thought. What the fuck was he going to do now? It’s not like the zoo was going to just let him take a lion. And he doubted ‘that lion is Captain America’ was going to help no matter how crazy their lives often were.

He walked over to the enclosure, and hopped the fence pulling himself over until he could flop over landing in the grass.

He got up, brushing himself off and walked over to Steve. “Alright I think we should-“

There was a low growl off to his left and Tony froze. Ah, slight miscalculation. Because Steve wasn’t the only lion in the pen. Tony turned his head slowly, spotting a lioness crouching in the grass, her eyes bright and focused, pupils dilating. “Uhhhh..”

Steve gave an ear-splitting roar, leaping between them, and planting himself in front, growling at her, and snapping when she leapt forward. She growled again, trying to nip at him. He lunged, biting her ear and she squeaked loudly, pulling away and turning tail. 

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, big guy, I- oh, uh, Steve?” Steve was looking at him now, eyes dark and a low hum in his throat. “Are you- _all_ in there?”

Steve stalked forward and Tony backed up. Oh shit, he needed the armour, he needed-

A big, furry head-butted his stomach, forcing the air out in a rush as Steve rubbed against him, whiskers brushing through his shirt and a big paw wrapping around his hip to hold him in place. “Hey, hey, good to see you too, Cap.”

There was a shout behind him and he saw a group of tourists had gathered, shrieking and chattering loudly. They also all had their phones out. 

“We’d better go,” he told Steve who nodded. He called the armour, feeling it wrap around him and close over his face. “I think we’re going to have to be a little creative.” He stepped behind and wrapped his arms around Steve’s middle lifting him. He released the cables he kept in his suit for airlift rescues and secured them until Steve was strapped against him like he was in a Baby-Bjorn. “Ready?”

Steve rumbled and Tony grinned. It wasn’t ideal, but at least Cap was back, even if he was a little fuzzier. He started the repulsors, taking off at speed and flying through the air towards the city. 

The rest of the team wasn’t going to believe this.

* * *

Sam entered his code to the workshop. Tony had been in here for a couple of days, working to find Steve and not looking after himself. He needed to intervene. 

“Hey Tony, are you ok?”

The man was standing at his workbench, buzzing with a kind of energy he hadn’t had in a week. A lead! That had to mean a lead.

“Have you found something?”

Tony turned and smiled at him. “You could say that.”

“What did you-“ he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and it took a moment to comprehend before his brain really processed it. He leapt backwards slamming into a shelf. “What the fuck is that?”

“What?”

“Don’t, just don’t. The lion! Obviously the fucking _lion_ you’ve got in your workshop!” 

“Oh, that? That’s just Steve.”

Oh god, this was worse than he thought. “You got a...wild animal and named it Steve?”

Tony wrinkled his nose. “No! I mean it’s literally Steve. Steve got changed into a lion.”

Sam blinked. Because that was...different. He looked at the lion who was watching him calmly from over by the couch. “That’s Steve?.”

The lion seemed to nod reassuringly. It did not have that effect on Sam.

“Yeah, he- are you sure? Like are you one hundred percent that you aren’t just overworked and overtired and missing Steve?”

“We’re all worried about Steve,” Tony told him, pulling up a screen and starting to design. 

“Yeah, but you’ve been- Well, Rhodey said I could call it ‘First-MIT-Break-Up-Tony’, but really you’ve just been manic and miserable, and honestly you have to be running on empty. I just want to make sure that what you’ve done is find Steve, who in fairness to you, attracts weird like a fucking magnet, and not say...-” he was interrupted by the ding of a push notification on his phone and his jaw dropped. “...kidnapped a lion from the Bronx Zoo and gone viral for being a lion whisperer!” 

“First of all, Rhodey does not have a leg to stand on, he’s honestly a marshmallow who cried for a week when he got dumped, so he can shut up. Second, this is Steve! You think most lions would be so relaxed at being flown through the air?”

He pulled up Twitter, the trending image at the top was that of Ironman flying over NYC with a lion strapped to his belly. Jesus Christ, they were definitely getting another lecture from Coulson.

“Alright, that is in your favour, I’ll give you that, but—- what are you even doing?”

“Was it not clear? I’m creating a speaking apparatus to translate lion to English.”

Sam threw his hands in the air. “Why would that even work? Lions don’t talk! They communicate, but it’s not like they’re performing Shakespeare.” 

“Alright maybe you’re right, it’s a bit ambitious...I suppose he can always point to things and Jarvis can help...hmmm.”

“Did the keepers not question why there was an extra lion at their zoo?” Sam asked, arms flapping even as he stared at Steve. “Like that’s a whole giant cat, just to spare.”

“Yeah we swung by the Sanctum Sanctorum to speak to Strange, he says it’s likely the guy did some sort of masking spell or something so people literally just didn’t question it. Kind of like in Harry Potter where muggles get confused if they think too much about Hogwarts and just wander off.”

Same raised an eyebrow. “Is that how Strange explained it?”

Tony smirked. “Well no, and he hates that that’s how I chose to interpret it. But whatever it works. What matters here is that Steve is a lion.”

“I’m just not—- argggh!” 

Steve chose that moment to pounce, knocking the Falcon, superhero and decorated war veteran, to the floor with an embarrassing screech. And he knew, he just _knew_ , that Tony was going to have Jarvis to send that clip to everyone. 

Steve flopped down on top of Sam, rubbing his head against him and giving a soft rumble.

“Oh my god!” Sam yelled, pinned beneath 550 pounds of muscle and fur. “What the fuck?”

“I think he said ‘on your left’,” Tony offered helpfully. Sam flipped him off. 

“Alright, you know what? I believe you. Because Steve Rogers is a fucking troll and this is exactly the kind of shit he would do.” He shoved at Steve. “Get off me you lump.”

The lion pushed himself to his feet, flicking his tail and waiting patiently for Sam to get up. 

Sam stood looking down at himself with a long-suffering sigh. “You’ve ruined my work out clothes.”

Steve huffed in amusement and Sam rolled his eyes. “Honestly I regret my life decisions more every day.” He looked at Tony. “Did you tell everyone he was back?”

“I asked Jarvis to spread the word. You just beat the crowds I think.”

There was the ping of the elevator. “Speak of the devil.”

* * *

“Tony, Jarvis said you found —- WHAT THE FUCK?”

Pepper backed into the corner, with a shriek. “Is that a lion??? I thought we agreed, no exotic pets after that weekend in Las Vegas!”

The only person not freaking out was Clint, which was odd, until Tony remembered ‘raised in a circus’ from his SHIELD file. “Nice lion, where’d you get him?”

“Ok, I know I do weird shit sometimes, but do you all believe I’m the type of person who would just buy a wild animal and let it roam around?” The silence spoke volumes. “Oh, fuck you.” He pointed at Steve who was still standing there trying to look cute and non-threatening. At least Tony assumed that was on purpose. “The lion is Steve. Steve is a lion now.”

“Dope,” Clint said. “Hey, Steve, you'll enjoy this.” Then he leaned over to scratch a spot near his ear and Steve nearly fell over in a puddle, rumbling loud like an engine. “Lions like scritches too.”

Tony tried not to feel jealous. 

Natasha looked over to Tony. “Did Strange say how we fix this?”

“He said we probably need to find the guy and get him to lift it. He and Wong are looking into other options for us to see if there’s anything else they can do and they’ll keep us posted.” He flapped a hand in Steve’s direction. “So until then, Steve’s just going to be a lion. You know, for a bit. And then, hopefully, he won’t be.”

Natasha gave him a disbelieving look. 

“It’ll be fine!”

She raised her eyebrow, but then moved to pet Steve. “Wow, your fur is really rough.”

“Alright, let's give the man some space,” Tony snapped, hands on his hips.

Natasha smirked at him. Damnit. 

“You know Steve is going to need some decent grub,” Clint said. “He can’t just have curry with the rest of us.”

“Jarvis?”

“On it sir.”

Tony clapped his hands. “Alright, that’s everything then.”

Pepper huffed angrily. “Is it? And how am I supposed to explain Tony Stark kidnapping a lion from the Bronx Zoo?”

“Ah,” Tony offered sheepishly. “I mean, is it really any crazier than the other shit I’ve pulled over the years? Just do what you used to do.”

Her eye twitched.

“Or,” he added hastily. “I can talk to PR and we can come up with something. Honestly, I think with the donation I made, the zoo will probably agree to whatever we say.”

“That’s more like it.” She reaches out to give Steve a cautious pat. “You do get yourself into trouble, Captain Rogers.”

Steve hummed in his throat, rolling his head into her hand. 

Alright, it was starting to feel like everyone got to touch Steve but him.

“So, lions. Lions, lions, lions. J, pull me up some facts. What do we need to know about big cats?”

The display changes to a list and Tony skimmed through, reading allowed for Steve’s benefit. 

“Lions are the only big cats to live in groups, that group is called a pride, yadda yadda, lionesses do the hunting, yes, yes, we all know that.”

“‘As with other cats, the male lion's penis has backward-pointing spines that—-’”, Tony flinched. “Ok, maybe we don’t need to research everything.” 

Clint burst into laughter, and Natasha hid a smile behind her hand.

Tony pointedly kept a straight face, trying to be polite, unlike the rest of these cretins.

Sam had no such qualms, face screwing up in disgust. “Man, that is nasty.”

Steve growled warningly.

“Hey, you’d be the same if you were the one with opposable thumbs!”

Natasha looked around. “Has anyone told Bucky?”

“He should’ve gotten the all-call,” Tony said, frowning. “Maybe one of you can take Steve up to see him? He sometimes activates dark mode when he needs a break.”

“Works for me,” Clint agreed, straightening up. “Come on Steve, let's go freak Bucky out.”

The room emptied out, leaving Tony with Bruce who was still looking a little shell shocked in the corner. “Alrighty Brucey. Let’s get to work. We need to find whoever did this.”

* * *

“It looks the serum isn’t working,” Bruce said, looking over the rims of his glasses. 

Tony frowned. “What do you mean it isn’t working?” They’d been going over the data for a few hours, analysing the samples Tony had taken from Steve when they’d first returned to the tower, so far without much success. There was no clue as to who was responsible and no suggestion science could be the fix.

“I mean it still seems to be present, the usual markers are there, but it’s not doing its job. Currently, Steve is just a regular man,” he cleared his throat. “Just in the body of a lion.”

“Shit,” Tony swore. “Then he has to stay inside the tower. I mean he had to anyway, how the hell would we explain this, but if he goes out and gets shot by animal control, they could actually put him down.”

“Exactly. The fact that the serum is still there, but not active, makes me think it should hopefully come back online when he changes back. But until then, he’s just a regular lion.”

“Shit, he is not going to like that. He hates being cooped up.”

Bruce shrugged. “He doesn’t have a choice. Pull rank if you have to.”

Tony nodded. “Speaking of our fearless furry leader - Jarvis, show us what Steve’s up to?”

The big screen between them lit up and Tony rolled his eyes when he realised what he was seeing. Typical.

Steve and Bucky were wrestling in the gym with the other avengers standing around watching. Steve was fast, and despite the lack of serum, very strong. They watched as Steve used his superior size to pin Bucky, nipping at his metal arm playfully. Bucky shoved him off, tagging in Sam, who charged in with a yell, leaping onto Steve before being easily rolled on. Steve was rumbling and huffing in what Tony assumed was amusement, and didn’t seem to mind being piled on by Avengers. 

It was kind of nice. It’s not that Steve wasn’t affectionate with the team, they were friends and he cared about and showed it, but it was more that it tended towards manly slapping hugs or shoulder pats. He didn’t usually roll all over his teammates, or nuzzle them, or clasp them between his huge paws like he was currently doing to Clint on screen. 

Bruce snorted as Tony pushed back the feeling of longing. 

He cleared his throat. “I might go and let them know about the serum, just in case.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Sure, Tony, sure. I’ll stay here and do some actual work.”

Tony smirked, slapping him on the back. “Thanks, Big Guy. Keep me posted.”

He made his way to the gym floor, striding through the double doors and onto the mats. “Just a heads up folks, Simba over there hasn’t got super healing, so don’t break him. I really don’t want to have to try and find a vet that’ll sign an NDA.”

Steve sat up looking concerned but Tony waved a hand. “Don’t panic. Serum’s still there but seems to be inactive. Bruce thinks it’ll go back to normal once the spell’s gone.”

“You here to take Stevie on, Tony?” Bucky asked, flopped on the floor. “So far our best time is thirty seconds before someone gets pinned.”

“Yeah alright I’m in, Jarvis grab me the-”

“No suit. Sam did it with no wings, thems the rules.”

Tony sighed. “Fine. Here, kitty, kitty.”

Steve prowled around him in a circle as Tony stepped in position. Tony kept himself moving, making sure he wasn’t an easy target. Steve was all grace and controlled power, shooting forward trying to grab Tony’s foot with a paw. Tony jumped out of the way, dodging with a grin. 

“That all you got, Rogers?”

Steve yipped and this time when he pounced, Tony found himself flat on his back, pinned and unable to move. He struggled to escape, when he couldn’t, he slapped a hand on Steve’s side. “I’m tapping out! Get off me you lug.”

Steve rumbled, like a cat, and Tony shoved at him. Steve rolled his head against him seeming to nuzzle before his whole body went still and he rolled off in an instant, leaving Tony cold. 

He frowned watching Steve move away. That was odd. He’d been happy to roll around with the others.

He looked over at Steve who was very decidedly looking away and felt a rush of disappointment. No one else seemed to notice, Clint jumping back into the fray as soon as Steve was free.

Tony watched for a time before making excuses and heading back to the lab. 

* * *

“Merf?” 

Tony groggily turned to see what had made the sound. 

Then he yelped, launching himself away from the bench and falling to the floor in a mad scramble. 

Because holy fuck, there was a lion, and how in the fuck did a lion get into the—-

Oh wait. He scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to will his heart to beat at a normal pace even as his body shook with adrenalin. 

There was an interrogative, slightly guilty sounding meow, and he opened his eyes to see Steve, crouched down clearly trying to look small.

“No, it’s not your fault. I just forgot for a minute.”

Steve stared at him and Tony frowned. “What?”

There was further staring. 

Tony threw his hands in the air. “I can’t go to sleep right now. I’m trying to track the guy that did this to you.”

Steve blew out a huff of air. 

“Look, do you want to stay a giant cat forever? Because if not, you need to let me do my job.”

Steve growled.

“I’m not manic, you’re manic!”

Steve raised a furry eyebrow. 

“Alright, yes I heard it. Fine, I’ll go take a break.” 

Steve began to squeak. 

Tony refused to find it charming. 

He closed down the display and pushed his glasses onto his head. “Somehow you manage to be more judgmental without being able to talk. I didn’t know that was possible.”

He stepped into the elevator, calling for Jarvis to shut down the workshop, and yawned. Maybe Steve was right, he actually was exhausted. 

Suddenly his face slammed against the side, the arms of his glasses biting into the side of his head, as Steve grossly misjudged the size of the space and followed him in, his huge body knocking into Tony’s hip and squishing him against the wall. “Gah!”

The doors closed and as much as Tony tried to wiggle he was stuck. Great.

He remained there until the ding told him they had reached the team floor and as the doors opened, Steve started to step out, the pressure releasing all of a sudden and Tony flopped backwards landing over Steve’s back.

This was so undignified. 

“Wow,” Bucky said, standing in front of them, arms crossed. “What is happening here?”

Tony couldn’t see Steve’s expression from his position but he heard the irritated yip. 

“Shut up Barnes.”

“Hey, hey, don’t have a go at me. I’m not the one Stevie here just swept off his feet.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “He didn’t- woah!”

Steve started to walk off, taking Tony with him, and he had no choice but to grip the fur nearest to him and hold on. 

“Bye, Tony, don’t let him turn you into his chew toy.” 

“I get no respect around here!” Tony howled, even as he was carted away, Steve’s spine digging into his belly and the furry back vibrating with a low rumble.

They moved through the floor until they reached the kitchen, Steve sitting down causing Tony to slide off onto the floor. This was so undignified. “I thought you wanted me to sleep?” Tony asked grumpily. 

Steve walked over to the fridge and jabbed at it with a huge paw. 

Tony sighed and pushed himself to his feet, pulling it open and spotting it immediately. He grabbed the leftover Chinese and put it in the microwave and punched the buttons. “Are you happy now?”

Steve nodded, then stepped forward one paw wrapping around his waist to hold him in place as he gently shoved his big head into Tony’s hip to nuzzle. 

Tony froze, feeling the heat flood to his face. Because it was really easy to forget that this wasn’t some affectionate animal, and not think much of it. But it wasn’t. It was Steve.

And Steve was nuzzling his hip.

“Uhhh,” Tony started, unsure what to do, and then suddenly Steve stilled, his whole body going stiff. 

In an instant, Steve was across the room, looking at Tony, eyes wide.

“Hey, what’s—- and you’re gone. Ok.” Tony finished as Steve bolted down the hallway, tail disappearing through the doorway. He sighed, so much for that. 

He took out the food when it was done and made sure to eat it, chewing morosely. It was starting to hurt that Steve seemed to regret showing affection towards Tony. He didn't bolt like that when it was Sam or Bucky.

He finished his dinner quickly and then went off to bed. The sooner they got this fixed, the better.

* * *

It wasn't until he was lying in bed later that it hit him.

Oh my god.

Steve was the lion from the zoo. The same lion that Tony had been spilling his heart out to, like an idiot— -why did he even tell a lion for god’s sake?! - who now knew Tony liked him for being simultaneously a beefcake and an amazing human being. This was so fucking embarrassing. 

And Steve...hadn’t done anything. He'd chilled in the workshop, and made Tony eat and sleep. That was just, business as usual. And sure, he’d helped Tony out, but whatever, he’d do the same for everyone else on the team without hesitation.

So really, he wasn’t special. Steve liked him, as a friend, but he didn’t want anything more than that, no matter what it had seemed like they were building towards these last few months.

No wonder he’d pulled back from affection with Tony, he hadn’t wanted him to get the wrong idea.

He felt...sort of empty. The disappointment was like a heavy weight, and he rolled over, curling the comforter over himself. This really sucked. 

He did manage to sleep eventually, the days of long hours and stress of the search finally catching up to him. 

And when he dreamed, rough golden fur gave way to smooth skin, bright eyes and a gorgeous smile. It was a nice dream. 

* * *

Clint sat on his phone in the common area, scrolling through Instagram and leaving troll comments on Dr Doom’s feed. It was the simple things that made life worthwhile. 

Steve sat watching the TV, a live feed of a meeting in a town hall was playing, as people started to gather. 

Natasha had helpfully had Jarvis set it up for him (since he could neither ask himself or type out a request with his big paws) so he could watch a live-stream of the Living Wage Bill’s first reading. They could all tell it was killing him not to be there, but Pepper had promised him that Bucky was doing a good job of being a famous face behind the campaign, and that had seemed to reassure him a little at least.

Clint let the sound of the debate roll over him, not paying much attention until there was a loud growl and suddenly he was yanked off the couch.

“Ow, what the fuck?”

Steve held his t-shirt between his teeth, tossing his head towards the screen. 

“Wow, what’s going on?” Clint told him, trying to tug his shirt free. “You rip my clothes and I’ll make you into a lion skin rug.”

Steve rolled his eyes and let go, walking to the screen and pointing with one giant paw. It covered a huge chunk of the screen and he huffed, seemingly frustrated.

Clint felt bad for the guy. “Alright, hang on, we can work this out. You want to show me something on the screen?”

Steve nodded.

“Ok, Jarvis, can you highlight sections of the screen so Steve can yes or no them?”

“Certainly, Agent Barton.” the screen dimmed, leaving one section bright. 

“Nod when it’s what you want me to see.”

Steve complied, waiting patiently until Jarvis lit up the square with the man in it. He squeaked, nodding his head.

“That guy? What about him? Is he involved?”

Steve nodded again. 

“OK, we’re getting somewhere. Is he the magic-user?”

Steve nodded again, this time quivering with excitement.

“Great! Jarvis can you-“

“Already pulling facial recognition data. I’ll have the results for you in a moment.”

Clint looked at Steve and grinned. “Nice one fur face!”

Steve looked as unimpressed a lion could. “Too much?”

The tail flap to the face could not have been more clear. 

* * *

Now that they had a face, and eventually a name, things felt a lot more hopeful. 

The guy was proving hard to track, which Strange said was likely the result of a spell, but now that they knew, they had an advantage. 

Jarvis was tracking his every move and each time he flagged up somewhere one or more avengers would head out to try and catch him, though each time he would slip through their grasp. 

Each day Steve wound tighter and tighter, less concerned about the lion aspect of his condition, and more at what it was stopping him from doing. 

The campaign was ramping up, getting closer and closer to the vote, and while Bucky was doing an admirable job, it was clearly killing Steve not to be involved. 

Tony watched a live feed of him in the gym, racing around and trying to burn energy. He was less...acrobatic as a lion, heavy and made for chasing prey rather than fancy tricks and martial arts. Steve leapt up, clawing at the punching bag and biting it with his strong jaw. It was pretty impressive.

But it didn’t change the fact that Tony missed Steve. He missed having a conversation instead of a one-sided monologue (shut up, Rhodey, he didn’t just talk to hear himself speak!), and hanging out, and watching Steve’s breakfast routine in the mornings and the dumb little dance he did while he washed the dishes. He gave a deep sigh. 

He missed him. 

“Have you told Steve you love him?”

Tony’s breath caught and he nearly choked on it. “Fuck sake, Sam, I have a heart condition.” He rubbed his knuckles over his chest. “No, it hasn’t really come up if I’m honest.”

“Isn’t it hard? Not letting on when you spend so much time together?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time in denial over a lot of things. Trust me, it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it.”

Sam hummed. “Just kind of feels like something Steve would like to know.”

“Yeah well Steve would also like to not be fuzzy and have a sandpaper tongue!” Tony snapped, feeling defensive. So what if Sam had noticed? It was his business. 

“Just saying it might make having a sandpaper tongue easier if he knew he had something to look forward to once he changes back.”

“Or I have to wait however long for him to be able to speak again for him to let me down easy.”

“For a guy who takes so many damn risks, you are weak sauce, Stark.”

“Well for a guy who’s so open about his emotions, I don’t see Bucky being asked to the veteran’s ball or whatever it is.”

Sam’s shoulders slumped. “Alright, touche. But that’s because Bucky is still recovering from being, you know, brainwashed for 70 years and I didn’t want to push him too soon.” Sam gave him a look. “What’s your excuse?”

“Somehow I feel like you’re not going to buy ‘frozen for 70 years and still adjusting’ are you?”

Sam shook his head. “Nope. Steve’s come a long way, and being with someone he cares about and who cares about him is a healthy next step.”

“Damn.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, I guess I was sorting of hoping Steve would ask me? You guys have had the official invites for a month, but no dice.”

“So, what’s the plan? Pine forever and hope Nat doesn’t set him up? Because that’s a bad plan.”

“Yeah, alright. I just feel like confessing while he...has paws, seems kind of weird?”

“Alright, that’s...not totally unreasonable. But also if you could do it sooner rather than later, I would really appreciate it. I have money on it being in the next three months, and I really don’t want to lose to Rhodey. “

Tony’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god, is that what this is about?!”

Sam laughed. “Nah, I want you and Steve to be happy. You’re my friends. “ He grinned. “But you know if I make $20 in the process…”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Yeah whatever, get out of here.”

Sam got up with a snort, making his way out of the workshop with a wave. Tony waited until he was almost out the door before calling out. “And hey, if you don’t ask Buckaroo to the ball, someone else will. Take your own advice.”

Sam flipped him off over his shoulder but Tony knew he’d take it under consideration. What else were friends for if not giving you advice you didn’t want but desperately needed to hear?

* * *

“Why haven’t you found him yet?” Tony griped, as Strange appeared on screen.

“Hello to you, too,” the man replied, lifting a dark eyebrow. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“You know why I’m calling. Have you found anything more about the guy?”

“A few useful things, from my perspective, but not his location. We are tracking him though.” He gave Tony a look. “And how is your _tech_ doing at finding him?”

Tony rolled his eyes, but bit back an amused smile. For all he and Strange rubbed each other the wrong way, the back and forth could be fun. “My tech has done better than you. We’ve found him in a few places around Manhattan. He vanishes fast though, which I assume is your...magic.” He added a heaping of disdain just to watch Strange give him a glare. “But we’ve got a list, and a couple of places he seems to have visited more than once. So, we’re staking them out. Hopefully, it comes to something.”

“At least the Captain’s affliction is an inconvenience rather than a danger,” Strange offered, in a rare moment of reassurance. 

“Yeah, well, you haven’t been bowled over when you accidentally got between him and the _entire cow carcass_ I had to have shipped in.” 

Strange winced. “No, I suppose I haven’t.”

“But whatever, we’re dealing. Call me if you find anything?”

“Likewise.” And the connection cut out. 

“Jarvis?”

“Sir?”

“Do me a favour and find this guy first? I do not want to have to look at the Doc’s smug face if he beats us.”

“I’ll do my best sir.”

* * *

“You can’t be serious.”

“Mroooow.”

“Who - how -“ Tony hid his face in his hands. “Who got you that bow tie?!”

Steve sat next to the Audi, tail curled behind him. Except, he was also wearing a black tuxedo jacket and a bow tie. 

“Where did they find a jacket that would fit you?”

“Raooowr!”

“Steve. You can’t go. You know you can’t go. I don’t know what is happening here.”

“Meow.”

“I appreciate you want to come along but I cannot take an _apex predator_ to a charity gala.”

Steve seemed to slump, shoulders drooping with a plaintive whine. 

Tony felt guilty. But then also sneakily took a photo with his phone. It was too cute to pass up.

He then had the privilege of watching a lion drag his feet and leave a room at the slowest pace possible. 

He pressed his palms into his eyes with a groan. What the fuck.

“He doesn’t want you to have to go on your own,” said a voice behind him, and Tony turned to see Bucky leaning against the wall of the garage. “He knows how much you hate them.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “How can you tell what he’s saying?”

Bucky snorted. “I don’t have to. He frets every time you get stuck at events on your own. He knows you hate it.”

Oh, well. That was very sweet. But - “aren’t you coming with me?”

“Sure. But I’m going to be making time with Sam, so really you’ll be flying solo.” 

Tony’s jaw dropped. “Wow, did he finally-?”

“Nah. I did. Couldn’t be bothered watching him keep flapping around.”

Tony grinned. “Pretty brave, Barnes.”

“You could certainly learn a thing or two from me. So could that furball.”

“Yeah well, maybe one day.” Tony snorted. “But also if you ditch me I will have my revenge.”

“Eh.” Bucky pretended to think. “I don’t know, I think making out with Sam would be great.”

“Yeah, we’ll see how you and Sam like it when Jarvis sets off the sprinklers every time you’re getting busy.”

“Alright, alright, we’ll try and keep it in our pants until after the speeches, jeez.”

Tony snorted. “You better. You riding with me or have you booked a car?”

“Booked a car. Sam’s still finishing up but we’ll be right behind you.”

“Sounds good.” Tony slid into the Audi, enjoying the purr of the engine when he turned the key in the ignition. He gave Bucky a final wave and pulled out of the garage as Jarvis opened the doors. 

He felt a sharp stab of disappointment that this wasn’t his and Steve’s big night, but at least he wasn’t going to be on his own. 

* * *

Bucky watched the car leave before slipping back through the doorway and putting his hands on his hips. “I’m not really sure how you saw that going differently.”

The golden furred lump lying morosely on the floor ignored him. 

“A lion can’t go to a fancy party. That’s not a thing.”

Still nothing. 

“Hey,” he nudged him in the side with the toe of his brown dress shoes. “I know you’d been getting up the courage to ask him to the ball before all this. And it’s unfair that you can’t attend because you’re a terrifying carnivore now. But, come on, buddy, cheer up.”

Steve made a sad ‘mrooooar’ sound, covering his face with a paw. 

“You are such a drama queen. Just wait till you turn back. Then you can ask him out, and bing, bam, boom, happily ever after.”

The lump didn’t move. 

“Ok, I’m going to leave you to sulk, because I have to go hustle Sam along, but I’m going to send Clint to sit with you.”

There was a huff of acknowledgement and Buck threw his hands in the air. “Don’t wish me luck on my date or anything.”

The tail in front of him twitched and Steve growled in a way that sounded like two syllables. 

Hell, he’d take it.

* * *

The ball was a success.

Tony had sweet-talked the chair of the NY veterans’ charity into coming out in support of the campaign, and Sam and Bucky had cornered one of the more influential Assembly Members to try and convince him to vote to pass the bill. After all, a lot of veterans struggled to find work, and harder still to find a job that could put food on the table.

All in all, a pretty good night, though that wasn’t to say that it was a completely smooth experience.

Tony has been telling an outrageous anecdote to a group of white-haired old men who were all too happy to laugh and drink with him, even as Tony was sure none of them would be inclined to support the bill, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. 

He turned, pasting a fake smile on his face when he saw who it was. “Ah, Hugh, long time no see.”

The Roxxon CEO gave him a smile that was equally disingenuine. “Tony, I should’ve known you’d be here. How’s business?”

“Oh, you know, just as successful as usual and we’re bringing out our new smartphone line ahead of schedule. How’s Roxxon? A little bird told me you were using paid protestors to push back against the living wage bill.” He sipped his drink casually. “Didn’t expect you’d stoop that low, but then I guess I’m not really surprised. It would be costly for you if you had to actually start paying your workers fairly.”

“Like you can talk. I don’t see you rallying the troops. I guess it’s easy to spout that socialist bullshit behind closed doors, but it’s a different story in public hmm?”

Tony bristled. “Or maybe I just know that Captain Rogers can do what needs to be done without me.”

“Ah, yes, the Captain. He’s not exactly making friends, is he? Man like that could go far, but not if he keeps pissing off the people who really make the decisions.” He made a show of looking around. “I don’t see him here tonight. What is he too busy painting banners and making ‘eat the rich’ wristbands?”

Tony rolled his eyes. What a jackass. “He unfortunately had another engagement. He’s a busy guy, but he made sure to make a very generous donation. He cares about this cause.”

“Well, do give him my regards. I see someone I need to speak to, do enjoy your evening.”

Tony watched him go feeling the irritation swell in his chest. What an ass.

“You ok?”

He turned to see Bucky on full alert. “Yeah, I’m fine, what’s-“

“You were making the face Steve says means you need rescuing. I figured since he wasn’t here I’d keep an eye out.”

Oh, Steve. That lug.

“Well, you can stand down. Just Hugh being his usual self. Anyway, shouldn’t you be making the most of this with Sam?”

“We’ll have our chance. We’re not leaving you to the wolves.”

“Thanks, Buck,” Tony said, feeling oddly touched.

In the end, Tony only stayed another half an hour before deciding to call it a night. He waved to the others, leaving Sam and Bucky to enjoy the rest of their evening, pleased to see Sam get his act together and ask Bucky to dance. It caused a bit of a stir, but well, no one was going to say a word to the Winter Soldier.

As he walked in the door of the communal floor he pulled his bow free from around his neck and shucked off his jacket, with a satisfying roll of his shoulders. 

“Mep.”

He walked into the lounge to see Steve, head down, looking guilty. He sighed.

“Don’t do that, come on, I’m not mad. I’m not. You were trying to be nice, and let’s face it, the tie looked great.”

Steve grunted but still looking forlorn. 

“Hey, we never got the chance to watch the new episode. You want to check it out?”

Steve nodded his big head, padding over to the couch. As Steve pulled himself up, his weight making the couch sink. He couldn’t seem to work out what to do with his legs and eventually leaned back, his back straight, and hind legs flopping out over the side. 

Tony stared at him and then burst out laughing. “Oh my god.”

Steve huffed, clearly offended. 

“No, it’s just.” He tried to get himself under control. “You look like when a cat sits like it’s people. It looks ridiculous.”

Steve grumbled, trying to shift. Tony gave him a shove. “Just lie down, I’ll still fit.”

Steve rearranged himself, spreading out with his head on his paws. Tony plonked himself down, leaning carefully against the big strong shoulder. “There we go. Isn’t that more comfortable?”

Steve gave a yip and settled down, more relaxed. Jarvis queued up the episode and they watched together, Tony filling the silence with his usual commentary. 

It was weird chatting when Steve couldn’t respond. They usually talked about the plot together, ribbing each other and awwing over baby Yoda. But instead, it was just him. He assumed Steve had to be sick of hearing him by now, but when he fell silent near the end, he got a nose to the ribs and yelped. “Alright, alright. I just figured you might be sick of one-sided conversations by now.”

Steve turned to look at him, meeting his eyes and shook his head. His big paw lifted to rest on his knee. “Raooor.”

“OK, I don’t know what that means, but I’ll assume it was flattering.”

Steve slumped. 

“Hey, it’s ok. I promise, we’re going to get this guy and then you’ll be back to your old, ‘things were better in my day’ self.”

Steve growled. 

“Yeah alright, you’re not that bad. You’ve adapted really well, you know that? Not everyone could have dealt with it the way you have.”

Steve’s head lolled back, till he was resting on Tony’s lap and gave him a side-eye. 

“I mean it. I know I call you old man, and I make fun of your khakis and that you hate reality TV and—-” A claw dug slightly into his thigh. “BUT,” he added, and the claw retracted. “You’ve made such an effort to learn everything, and try new things and not just cling to what you lost. It’s admirable, really.”

“And I even like that you stand up to big corporations and openly call them filthy capitalists even though you live with me.”

Steve shook his head, making a series of growls and meows as he clearly tried to explain.

“I can’t—-”

“I think I might be able to help with this, sir,” Jarvis offered, and the TV flicked over to show footage from an interview. An interview with Steve.

It wasn’t official, he’d clearly been doorstepped by an eager journalist. He was dressed in his casual clothes, the ones he wore for running errands or going for walks. The microphone was shoved into his face as the camera focused in.

“Captain Rogers, how can you justify your position when you live under the roof of the third richest man in the world?”

Tony winced. That was a cheap shot at someone who was just trying to help people out. But Steve seemed unperturbed.

“Easily. The people I am campaigning against are people who don’t care about anything except helping themselves. The kind of people who dodge taxes, even though the country needs them to make sure we have what we need. The people who spend their summers travelling the world on their private jet or super yacht while they pay their employees the bare minimum and don’t provide decent health insurance or worse, overextend themselves and go into debt not paying a cent themselves and letting people lose their jobs and go hungry. Those are the people I hate.”

“Tony Stark is not that. He’s a good man. Not everyone can step outside the circumstances they were born in, and that’s true whether you have a lot of money or none of it, but, even though he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, hell, a gold spoon really, he uses his wealth and his power to help people. Stark Industries has one of the highest ratings for employee health and satisfaction. They’ve always been an equal opportunities employer, use blind hiring to lower the chances of bias in the hiring process, and have consistently been ranked high on Stonewall’s Top 100 employers. The Maria Stark Foundation supports dozens of campaigns every year, and has always funded education for low socioeconomic neighbourhoods.”

“And Tony Stark—-” his voice faltered slightly, though it wouldn’t have been noticeable to anyone else. “Tony Stark suffered at the hands of a terrorist group and used his experience to make the world a safer place. He uncovered injustice and pain caused by his company and he did everything he could to stop it and make up for it. He’s a good man, and that is why I can fight alongside him, live in his tower and feel only pride at my decision.”

“There’s nothing wrong with making money or being rich. Just don’t be a prick about it.”

Tony barked out a laugh, even as he looked down and saw Steve was covering his face with his paws. “I can’t believe you said that on camera. Did the interviewer clutch her pearls and faint?”

Steve peeked a big eye out from behind and growled. 

Tony smiled. “You’re right, not the main takeaway here. Do you really think that about me?”

Steve nodded, tongue flicking out to lick his pants. Which was somehow both gross and endearing.

That was..nice. Really nice. 

Even if Steve didn’t feel the same way about him romantically, it was still something to know he was admired. Enough that Steve felt comfortable putting it on the record and telling the whole world about it. The thought made him feel warm.

“Of course you know this is why the Wall Street fat cats all hate you right? Because your bill is going to cost them millions in deserved wages.”

Steve rolled his eyes and Tony snorted. “Yeah, I know, cry me a river, right?”

As they sat there, a tiny sliver of a thought crept into his mind. It was insistent, something he needed to focus on. Thinking about the campaign had triggered something, he just needed-

“Oh!” he sat up, Steve’s big head turning to look at him in surprise. Because his mind was flicking through the data Jarvis had pulled together, places the magic-user had been seen. One of the repeated visits had been to offices owned by smaller companies, all under the umbrella of… “Roxxon!”

Steve squeaked in question.

“The bill! That's why this happened. You’re going to cost them millions so they tried to take you out! I bet it’s not just Roxxon involved either, but I guarantee Hugh Jones will be right in the thick of it.”

Steve miaowed, sounding outraged. He slid off the couch onto the floor with a low growl. 

“Rawoaroooaroaroah!”

“Exactly!” Tony said, snapping his fingers. “Wow, I can’t believe they had the sack to go after you. I mean, I can’t work out the lion thing, that logic is totally lost on me but whatever, we can work that out later.” He started towards the workshop. “Let’s go look into Roxxon and see how we tie them to it.”

Steve meeped in agreement, bounding after him down the stairs.

* * *

With evidence in hand, Tony called the other together the next morning.

He explained, getting Jarvis to fill in gaps, and by the end, the others were on board.

“So, what do we do? Go to Jones’ office and shake him down?” Bucky twirled a knife seemingly without thought.

Tony shook his head. “No. Well, actually, not ‘no’ as such, but we need the magic-user before we can. Anything else he’s going to deny and worm his way out of. I asked Doctor Strange if he could track him, and he’s doing his whole-” he waved his hand in the air, “magic thing, where he can apparently find them like a bloodhound. So he and Wong will let us know when they have something.”

“Alright then, so we-” He was cut off by the alarm, and Jarvis’ voice over the speakers.

“Sir, we have an emergency call coming through.”

Tony got to his feet, seeing the others do the same. “Full team, or limited containment?”

“All of the Avengers are requested. Videos coming in and being posted to social media show a large number of automatons moving out across the city. They appear to be looting and causing widespread damage.”

“Everyone be ready to go in five,” Tony said, and the team dispersed. Tony headed out to the landed pad, letting the suit cover him.

There was a rumble from behind him. He sighed. 

“You can’t come with us.”

There was an annoyed meowing, and Tony didn’t need to understand him to know what he was saying. “I know it’s a whole team call out, but right now you’re vulnerable.” He looked back over his shoulder. “We can handle it, Cap.”

Steve growled. 

“I have to go,” Tony told him, tone dripping with apology. “I can’t stay and argue with you. You need to stay safe.”

He didn’t look back and he took off, heading towards the source of the destruction.

* * *

The battle was tough.

Whatever the bots were made of was tough, tricky to destroy even with all the weapons at his disposal. They were having an impact though, it was just taking a lot of work. 

Suddenly there was a shout. “There is something coming,” Thor called out over the comms and Tony looked in the direction he was pointing. There was something flying over the buildings towards them at top speed. 

It was hard to see, too far for a quick view so he activated the zoom function on the viewscreen and-

“Fuck.” There were general calls of concern over the comms, and Tony huffed. “It’s not a threat. Seems like Cap doesn’t like to be left at home.”

Because apparently, someone had managed to get his shield adjusted so it fit on his back and convinced Jarvis to let him use one of the spare suits as a goddamn taxi service. 

The suit came to hover in front of Tony, disengaging the straps and letting Steve tumble gracefully to the ground, before shooting off again back to the workshop. He and Jarvis were going to have _words._

“What are you doing here?”

Steve roared. 

Tony growled right back. “How are you even supposed to use that shield?”

Steve tilted his head so he could grab the edge and pulled it off, before putting it back, the shield slotting comfortably back into place. Which looked a hell of a lot like Tony’s magnetic shield prototype he’d been working on and hadn’t mentioned to _anyone_. 

“So you’ve made a co-conspirator out of Jarvis that much is obvious. But you know what? We can talk about this later. The serum is inactive. You are a target, and you don't have your advanced healing. I’m calling that suit back and you’re going- ARGH!”

Tony was suddenly hit by 550 pounds of fur and fell backwards, just in time to avoid a large chunk of concrete and rebar from the apartment building nearby. He stared up at the smug lion face in his eye line. “Alright fine. You can stay. But for god’s sake stay close to me alright?”

He pushed himself to his feet and was suddenly engulfed in fur as Steve put his big on his shoulders and lifted himself so he could drag a huge tongue licking across Tony’s faceplate with a mew. Well, that was new. “Did you just cat-kiss me?”

Steve pushed back, coming to stand back on all four paws, seemingly embarrassed, before his furry shoulders went back in an obvious mirroring of his Captain America pose, and he nodded. 

“Oh wow. I mean. After all the stuff I said at the zoo, I thought you weren’t-” There was an explosion in the distance, and the ground beneath them rumbled. “Ok, we’re going to talk about this later, agreed?”

Steve nuzzled his hip with a rumble, and Tony ran a hand over his head. “Come on then, let’s go save the day. Want a lift?”

The old hug-and-fly was a little unconventional for a quadruped, but it worked well enough and once Steve was secure, Tony shot them into the air, heading back to the fight. 

* * *

Steve’s skill at adapting to a fight was...incredible. 

He tossed the shield like the pro he was, even if he had to use his mouth, and he scratched and bit, fighting off the bots with ease. Soon enough, they stood in a tired, dirty circle, the Hulk taking care of the stragglers. 

“Did you guys see how many I hit? I think I beat my personal best,” Clint crowed, leaning heavily on Thor. Everyone was pretty tired, and as soon as the NYPD got here, Tony was taking the team home. 

“Jarvis, what's our ETA on law enforcement,” Tony started before a giant gold ring appeared in the middle of the circle, and Dr Strange stepped out, holding a struggling kid, who couldn’t be older than twenty in one hand. 

“As promised, one inexperienced magic user, who is very sorry about inconveniencing Captain America,” he said, sounding bored. “He was much easier to track once we had a name. He’d made an impression with a few people in the community.”

Strange handed the man to Thor who took him easily.

Tony cleared his throat. “Ok, first, because this has been killing me. We worked out why you targeted Steve, but why the hell did you turn him into a lion?”

“Tony!” Sam said, sounding exasperated. “Priorities!”

“I need to know! Don’t tell me it hasn’t been driving you nuts too!” He pointed at the kid who shrunk back in Thor’s hold. “Tell me.”

“I was told to make him humble!” The magician squeaked as Thor held him in his tight grip. “So I did a spell that would make him take the form of his inner self, and show what a fraud he is.”

Tony’s jaw dropped. “Wait. Wait. Your plan was to show the real man Captain America is? Are you joking? That’s _literally_ what the serum did! That test has already been done, did you skip all your highschool history classes?”

The magician whimpered and Tony sighed and looked over at Steve. “So he tried to change you into a worm or something and it turns out you have the heart of a lion. You are such a cliche.”

Steve nipped the fingers of his suit grumpily. “Alright, alright, let’s just get this fixed.”

Thor gave him a shake. “You will fix what you have done to the Captain.”

“I’m not sure I-”

There was a loud rumble and then a crash, and suddenly one of the bots popped up from beneath a collapsed pillar. Tony flinched, and the faceplate snapped down, even though he knew he wasn’t going to have enough time to react. Clint, Natasha and Sam were all at risk…

Steve leapt up with a roar, snapping his teeth around the gun and dragging the bot out of the air. He wrestled with it, ripping it apart and Tony thought for a second they were clear.

There was high pitched whine, and the sound of the weapon discharging and Steve collapsed, his side smoking.

Tony shot off a few blasts at it, only just leaping out of the way before the Hulk came thundering past, snatching the bot off the ground and crushing it between his giant fists. 

Once the threat was neutralised, Tony spun around looking for Steve. 

“Fuck!” Tony moved to his side, armour retracting to let him check the wound. It was bad, the shot had gone deep but it was nothing the serum couldn’t heal. Fuck they needed it back in play, _now_.

He turned his head to look at the magician. “Fix him now!” 

“I’m not sure I-”

“Now!” He barked. 

Strange leant down to speak to the kid while Tony petted Steve’s ears soothingly. “Hang in there, Steve.” 

“Ok, I’ll do my best,” he heard behind him, along with some words he didn’t recognise. 

Tony stared, waiting for something to happen but Steve just lay there panting. “Well? Why isn’t anything happening?”

“I’m sorry!” The kid burst out. “I’m trying, I don’t know why it won’t work.”

Tony held up a repulsor, making it whine. “I suggest you get it to work. Now.”

A paw reached up and rested on his arm, pulling it down. “Meowr.” An eye peeked at him disapprovingly. 

Tony huffed. “I wasn’t going to actually do it, Mr Bleeding-lion-heart, I was just trying to put the fear of Ironman in him, which you just ruined.” 

The kid whimpered and Tony rolled his eyes. “Look, kid, I need you to try again. You can’t kill Captain America. I finally got a date.” His tone was light, but the panic was twisting his stomach tight. Stupid fucking magic. 

“Look, I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Well, the Captain is bleeding on the ground, so you did. But there’s still time to fix it, you just need to focus,” Strange told him, not softening the blow at all. “You need to think about what you want to do and pour all your energy into it.”

“I’ll try.” The kid took a deep breath holding out a hand like he was trying to lift an X-Wing, and muttered the same words as before. 

Tony stared at Steve, watching as his chest sunk and rose quickly. This had to work, it _had_ to. 

For a moment nothing happened and Tony was about ready to shake the kid upside down by his ankles if he didn’t _change Steve back-_

His breath caught as Steve became engulfed in light and he hid his eyes to stop from being blinded. When the light faded from behind his eyelids, he opened them, heart beating quick in anticipation. 

“Hi Tony.”

A huge grin spread over his face as he took in the smooth skin, and the bright amused eyes on his. “There’s my guy.”

He wasn't sure who moved first, but suddenly Steve’s lips were on his and those strong arms wrapped around his shoulder holding him in. It was perfect.

“Ahem.”

They broke apart, Tony glaring at the interruption. “What?”

“Maybe save the canoodling for at home, eh boys?” Natasha asked, though she seemed pleased for them. 

Tony huffed but stood, Steve using his shoulder to pull himself up as well. There was a snort from Clint and they both looked at him confused. 

“Maybe save the nudity for at home too, huh?”

Tony frowned. What was he on about? He turned to Steve to ask, when he realised Steve had flushed bright red. He let his gaze travel down and-

He reached down to pick up the shield. “You might want this.”

“Thanks.” Steve held it in front of him, face turning red as he did his best to shield - ha! - his body from view. 

Tony couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing, the sound coming out in an unattractive snort. “How could you not tell you were naked?”

Steve glared. “I’ve spent the best part of a month naked! How was I to know?”

Tony stared. “Somehow I think I’ve missed out.”

“Tony,” Steve whined. “Please.”

Tony smiled, unable to keep the happiness out of his expression. “Alright. I better get Captain Flasher here back to the tower. You guys have a handle on this?” At the affirmative nods, he looked to Strange. “What do we do about him?”

“I think perhaps if you don’t mind, I might deal with him. I think perhaps he needs someone to teach him about the misuse of magic and how to hone your skills so they actually do the job. His attempt at masking the Captain’s tracker after all was incredibly haphazard.”

“Works for me. Do me a favour, let the police talk to him about the deal he made with Roxxon and crew. I want them taken to task.”

“Done,” Strange said, and gestured to Thor as the first police car arrived. “I’m sure they’ll be able to assist, if you will, Thor?”

“Gladly.” They walked over the NYPD officer, the kid kicking and whining the whole way. 

Tony turned to Steve. “You think you can handle it if I fly you home? I’d really hate for you to freeze your junk off just as we were finally making some progress here.”

Steve flushed again, this time with a little heat in his gaze. “Maybe we can borrow something from the police? I’d hate to miss my shot now that I have it.”

A silver emergency blanket was draped over his shoulders and they turned to see Natasha smirking. “Way ahead of you boys. Now, get Cap out of here before his ass goes viral.”

“Yes ma’am,” Tony told her, snorting at Steve’s horrified expression. “Let’s go.”

Steve stepped into his arms, their usual flight position suddenly awash with tension as their eyes met. Steve leaned in to kiss him again. 

“Let’s go, Ironman.”

Tony grinned, faceplate coming down. “You got it.”


	2. Epilogue

“Stop fidgeting.”

“You stop fidgeting,” Steve muttered back, as Tony watched him _clearly fidget_. 

“It’s going to be fine. You did the work, Bucky did the work, it’s here at the Assembly, final step. And hell, I’m not sure I approve of the way you slandered some of those senators to shame them into letting it pass without amendments, but I will say it was hot as hell.”

“It’s not slander if it’s true,” Steve retorted, and Tony grinned. 

“I’m just so proud. Captain America using his good looks and vibranium shield to beat down the oppressors of the poor. Metaphorically of course.”

“Stop,” Steve whined, though Tony could see a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. “You keep saying it and someone’s going to believe you.”

“I’m just saying, I’m proud of you,” Tony said, and this time he let the pride slip into his tone for real. “This is going to mean a hell of a lot to a huge group of people.”

“Yeah, well I had a great support crew,” and Tony felt a kiss pressed to the top of his head. 

“You sap,” he replied, then his ear perked up as the speaker announced the Living Wage Bill. He slapped Steve’s arm. “Shh, it’s starting.”

Steve rolled his eyes but leaned forward to watch. The bill was read out, and the floor opened to vote by the full membership. It needed to pass with no amendments, and Tony found himself scanning the members for signs of outburst. Not that it mattered, they had the democrat vote, after all. It should be in the bag. 

“And the bill passes, 109 to 40,” the speaker announced. Tony’s eyebrows lifted, Apparently, a couple of those republicans had let Cap get to their conscience. 

“Yes!” Steve cheered, and he dipped down kissing Tony deeply as the speaker announced the bill would move to be signed by the Governor. 

Tony gleefully kissed back. Ah democracy. Gotta love it. 

Steve pulled away, resting his forehead against Tony’s seeming unable to control the delighted grin covering his face. “Next project, universal health care.”

Tony smiled. “You got it, Cap.”

They’d have to leave soon, and outside there would be journalists aplenty wanting to talk to Steve about his victory (which he would absolutely credit to Bucky and the campaigners), and they’d celebrate at the hall where Tony had paid for a big party and take photos with kids and have a great time. 

And then later, when it was all done, he and Steve would go home to their bed, and he could curl up in the arms of a man who saw the world for what it was and wanted to make it a better place. 

Even better, he could do that, knowing that man saw him the exact same way. 

And he loved him for it. 


End file.
